Russian court sentences kidnapped Crimean resident Khatidze Buiukhchan to 17 years

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has sentenced occupied Kerch resident Khatidzhe Buiukhchan to 17 years in a general-regime penal colony, the Russian propaganda news agency Interfax reported, citing the court’s press service. She was kidnapped in May 2025. Russian occupying authorities charged her with high treason, preparing a terrorist act and the storage and transportation of explosives.

Collage: Nadzhiye Femi

In addition to the prison sentence, Buiukhchan was fined 400,000 roubles ($4,300; £3,400) and handed a year and a half of restricted liberty.

According to Russian occupying investigators, between May and July 2024, the woman allegedly began collaborating with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). On 1 April 2025, she was allegedly tasked with locating the car of a naval assault aviation regiment commander in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

Russian prosecutors claim that Buiukhchan later purchased components to manufacture an improvised explosive device, along with explosives and a remote detonation device, before transporting them to a storage location.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Crimean Process NGO pointed out violations during the trial. In particular, the case against the Kerch resident was heard in Rostov-on-Don, on Russian soil, rather than in the temporarily occupied territory, which violates international humanitarian law і .

The human rights defenders also questioned the impartiality of Judge Kirill Krivtsov, who previously sentenced kidnapped Nova Kakhovka resident Oleksandr Skrabunov to life imprisonment.

Among other violations, Crimean Process cited restrictions on the public nature of the trial: the court website hid details about the defendant and other parties to the case, while information regarding the date and time of the verdict announcement was published only after the sentencing had already begun.

According to the human rights group, the court reached its decision after less than three hours of deliberation, even though the trial had spanned 12 hearings and involved four separate counts.

Crimean Process considers Buiukhchan’s case an example of Russia using its judicial system to persecute residents of occupied Ukrainian territories. The human rights advocates emphasised that Russia treats actions aimed at aiding Ukraine during an international armed conflict as crimes against the Russian state.

According to human rights groups, the number of missing persons in temporarily occupied Crimea increases every year, with an increasing proportion being women. In 2024, human rights groups recorded at least six new cases of enforced disappearances on the peninsula: two men and four women.

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